


Three Years

by SneetchesToo



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, F/M, Romance, episode fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-07 07:05:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17361281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneetchesToo/pseuds/SneetchesToo
Summary: It had been three years since Leanne had lost her husband and kids. Three years since her family had been taken away from her.It would take her exactly three years to get it all back.





	1. Year One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a reason she didn’t seek comfort in others. Why she kept to herself and locked her emotions away. Because whenever she did she got hurt. And she couldn’t handle another heartbreak like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This is part 1 of 3. Obviously it’s loosely AU. Please don’t throw stones at me!

Leanne Rorish wasn’t one to seek comfort in others, not these days anyway.

No, ever since her accident two years ago she had turned down affection of any kind from others, Jesse not included.

She didn’t need it. And she didn’t want it.

She was a strong woman, stronger than she had ever been, and she could handle things on her own.

That was until Ethan Willis walked into her life.

And then, everything changed.

—

She hadn’t expected to fall for him.

In fact, she had been mad at herself when she did.

It had only been two and a half years since her husband had died.

Only thirty long, excruciating months since she had lost the love of her life.

She never thought she would love again.

She never thought she would so much as look at another man again.

But then she had met Ethan, and that had all gone out the door.

—

He had been a broken mess when they first met.

He was in his Army uniform, clean cut and clean shaven, and as handsome as the devil himself.

But he was crying, holding the lifeless body of a man not much younger than him in his arms.

And she had felt her heart break for him instantly.

—

They had tried for thirty minutes to stabilize the younger Willis brother.

Thirty long, terrifying minutes of CPR and pulse checks and holding their own breath.

But in the end, they had failed.

Robert Joseph Willis had died that March night, at a little after four in the morning, and she had been helpless to stop it from happening.

—

She had gently shut down Neal’s request to be the one to tell the family.

She had been the one who had gotten him a bed after all.

And when she had made her way into the waiting room, her eyes searching for the well dressed man from earlier, she had held her breath.

But he was nowhere to be found.

Not a military uniform in sight.

And after she had searched for him for a good twenty minutes Amy had pointed in the direction of the roof.

She instantly feared the worse, a broken man headed for a higher destination was never a good sign.

She had run faster than she thought possible toward the staircase.

She couldn’t lose another Willis brother that night.

Not on her watch.

—

He hadn’t been thinking about jumping though, much to her relief.

And after scolding him for scaring her like that she had reminded him that access to the roof was for employees only.

But then she had seen the tears in his eyes and she had realized that he already knew what she had come up here to tell him.

That his brother was dead.

That the damage had been done and that it was too late to save him.

He told her that he knew that when he had found his body.

That he was a doctor in the Army and that he knew damn well that his brother didn’t stand a chance.

He knew, and yet, he had still sought out help.

“My dad’s gonna be furious.” He had whispered into the night sky.

She didn’t understand until a few weeks later why that was.

—

Normally once a patient had moved on, whether they had passed or simply been discharged, their family left with them.

Rarely did she see them again.

Occasionally she’d get a Christmas card from a former patient.

Or a note thanking her for her hard work and dedication.

But she didn’t keep in touch.

And she most certainly didn’t exchange phone numbers with patient’s or their family members.

And yet, with this one, she had.

And against her better judgement, and Jesse’s, she had texted him a few days after his brother’s passing to check on him.

If she had known then that it would lead to what it was today, she wouldn’t have hesitated nearly as much.

—

They had texted back and forth for two weeks before he asked her out for a cup of coffee.

And she had waited another three days after his invitation to say ‘yes’.

Jesse had thought she was crazy.

Neal had thought it was about time.

And Mike, well Mike had been incredibly indecisive about the whole thing.

But she had agreed, despite the little voice in her head telling her that this was wrong on so many levels.

And they had set a date and time before she was able to change her mind.

—

She had been incredibly thankful that she hadn’t changed her mind though because it turned out that Ethan Willis was quite the companion.

He had held the door open for her and told her how beautiful she had looked.

He had asked her about her life and her job and her friends.

She had refrained from bringing up her accident though.

No sense in spoiling a good first date with that mess.

And when it was all said and done he had walked her to her car and kissed her cheek before saying ‘goodbye’.

That night he texted her and asked her out on a real date.

Something nice and slightly more fancy than the coffee shop from that morning.

She hadn’t hesitated at all when she said ‘yes’ that time.

—

They spent three months casually dating.

Dinner here and there, the occasional after shift coffee meet up, a few evenings at the local art gallery.

And then he had gotten a call that he was needed back in Afghanistan.

And despite how much she hated to admit it, her whole world had come to a crashing halt.

She hadn’t wanted to become attached to him, but she had.

And she hadn’t wanted to develop feelings for him, but she had.

So when she said ‘goodbye’ to him in the airport on that sweltering July afternoon she had swore up and down to herself that she would move on and that everything would be fine.

He hadn’t even made it through the gate before she started to cry.

She knew she wouldn’t move on.

And she knew things wouldn’t be fine.

—

That summer had been a crazy one.

Mike had left and Ed had been promoted and there was a different kind of bug up Mark Taylor’s butt.

She and Jesse and Neal had powered along though.

Just like they always had before.

And just like they always would.

She had welcomed a new bunch of residents to the hospital in September and two days after their arrival she had arrived at work one morning to find a dozen yellow roses on her desk.

There was no card, no note, no nothing.

But she didn’t need one.

She knew exactly who they were from.

And she had felt her heart flutter in her chest at the simple thought.

He hadn’t forgotten about her after all.

—

The fall had brought about it’s own set of challenges.

Hundreds of new patients. Hundreds of trying cases. Hundreds of hours of hard labor.

She hadn’t heard from Ethan after the arrival of the flowers and she had tried hard to not let it bother her.

But deep down inside, she hated it.

She missed him.

She missed being able to text him at the end of a long day.

She missed hearing his laugh echo through his small house while he cooked her dinner before a long shift.

She missed his lips pressed gently against hers as she kissed him ‘goodnight’, much to their dismay.

She hadn’t wanted to miss him, and yet, it was all she was capable of doing.

—

And then the day had come when her patient’s wife had asked her about her son and for the first time since the accident she had felt the wind leave her lungs.

She hadn’t talked about them much since her return to Angels.

In fact, she hadn’t talked about them at all.

But in that moment, she had shared Eli’s love for the show and it’s music, and it had broken her heart.

Jesse had brought her back down to Earth afterward, just like he always did, and she had been standing there laughing at his horrible singing when she saw him.

It was just a glimpse, out of the corner of her eye, but she would recognize him anywhere.

He had stood in the shadows and waited for Jesse to make his exit, which he had done only after he had caught her gaze elsewhere.

“What is it daddy?” He had known something was up from the minute her eyes had shifted past him and toward the crowded floor of the waiting room.

“He’s here.” She had whispered.

And that had been all Jesse had needed to hear.

He had squeezed her shoulders before making his way back toward their patient and she had instantly felt very alone and very unprepared.

—

They had stared each other down from across the space for a good five minutes before either one of them made a move.

He stepped forward first, his long legs carrying him toward her in a few quick steps.

And he must have seen the tears in her eyes because the next thing she knew he was pulling her into his arms and wrapping her up tight.

The old Leanne would never had allowed such a show of affection from anyone other than Jesse.

Especially not at the hospital. 

And especially not here, just outside of Center Stage, where anyone and everyone could see them.

“I’ve missed you.” He whispered against her hair.

She hadn’t been able to speak though.

So instead she just wrapped her arms around him and held onto him for dear life.

She certainly had never expected him to show up at Angels that morning.

But she had been overwhelmingly glad that he did.

—

He had hung around the hospital until the end of her shift and then he had gone home with her.

Normally she wouldn’t have allowed this man that she hadn’t really known all that well into her home, but he had had a glint in his eye when he had told her that he had nowhere to stay.

She may have been a bit old school, but she wasn’t a prude.

And she wasn’t stupid.

He was as handsome as they came and if his kissing was any indication of how well he handled other things, well, she wouldn’t deny herself that pleasure any longer.

—

They hadn’t even made it through the front door before he was undoing her blouse.

And the pieces of his uniform had fallen to the floor as they made their way up the stairs and down the hall and into her bedroom.

They had been both been completely naked when they had gently fallen into her bed.

And they had stayed that way for the rest of the day, and night.

And then most of the day after.

He had kissed his way along every part of her body, over every inch of skin, and she had been powerless to stop him.

He had nipped at her gently and paid extra attention to the scars that scattered across her body.

She had been ashamed of those marks ever since her accident.

And she had always worried about what would happen if she had ever let a man see them.

She certainly hadn’t expected the reaction that she got from him.

She had never expected someone to love her body.

Not when she wasn’t capable of loving it herself.

—

When she had arrived at the hospital that night Jesse had simply raised an eyebrow at her.

She wondered what gave her away.

But it had actually been Rollie who had informed her of the small red mark that was barely visible on her neck.

The blush that had crept over her face had said it all and Rollie and Jesse had spent the next twenty minutes asking her question after question about her mystery man.

"He was a Patient here wasn't here?" Jesse's question had startled her.

She didn't expect him to remember the Colonel.

"No." She had simply stated. "His brother was."

And with that she had walked away and left the two men to wonder just which patient she was referring too.

\--

She and Ethan spent the next two weeks glued to each other's sides.

When she wasn't working she was with him.

And even when she was at the hospital her mind was on him.

She thought about him constantly.

When she had made the decision to walk away from Angels a few weeks later, Jesse had asked her if it was because of Ethan.

He wanted to know if she was leaving to be with him.

She had wanted to tell him that he was part of the equation.

That she had realized that there was more to life than just Trauma One.

Ethan had showed her a different side of life. A different side of herself even.

Instead she had just told Jesse that she needed time.

\--

But what she hadn't told Jesse was that she had woken up nine mornings ago puking her guts out.

And she hadn't told him about the three positive pregnancy tests that were sitting on her bathroom counter.

Ethan had been called away to New York for three weeks.

She had had the place to herself since then.

And when she had seen the two little lines on the small plastic test she hadn't known whether to cry tears of joy or tears of regret.

In hindsight, she had probably cried both.

\--

She had driven to the prison to forgive the man who had killed her family a few days after that.

She had made peace with his mistake and with her loss.

And now, she was ready to move on. To embrace this new life she had been handed.

And when she had gotten home that night she had found Ethan sitting on the front porch swing, a soft look on his face.

"A baby huh?" She had completely forgotten about the tests still on her bathroom counter.

She hadn't wanted to say anything until she knew for sure.

"Looks that way." She had expected him to be mad, furious even, but he wasn't. 

Instead he had wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her senseless right there in her front yard.

And that night after they had made love they had talked about all the things they were imagining for their growing family.

She had felt a sense of calm come over that evening when she fell asleep in his arms.

Maybe things were starting to look up after all.

\--

But then they had lost Gina and Malaya had been attacked and suddenly everything was changing.

Ed had made her the new ER director and she had felt something inside of her panic.

She couldn’t possibly do this job and raise a child.

Not this time around. Not at her age.

And Ethan was as busy as ever at the Army base in Los Alamitos.

One of them would have to make a change, a big one, and for once, she was okay with it being her.

—

She never got the chance to make a big change though because two days before she had scheduled her meeting with Ed she had started to feel lightheaded while in Center Stage.

And on the way to her office after saving the patient’s life she had felt a cramp in her stomach worse than any pain she had ever felt before.

The scream she had let out had gotten the attention of a nearby nurse, who immediately paged Jesse, and the next thing she knew she was being laid on a gurney and wheeled down the hall.

She hadn’t even really begun to accept the fact that she was pregnant.

And then all of a sudden, she wasn’t.

—

Telling Ethan had been the hardest thing she had ever done in her entire life.

The look of pain and anguish on his face with the words “I lost the baby” had made her break in two.

He had stayed by her side until she had fallen back to sleep, but when she awoke the next morning he was gone.

And when she had gotten home that night his bags had been packed and his bike was gone from the driveway.

She knew right then and there that he had left.

That he had moved on and that he would never come back for her.

There was a reason she didn’t seek comfort in others.

Why she kept to herself and locked her emotions away.

Because whenever she did she got hurt.

And she couldn’t handle another heartbreak like that.


	2. Year Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So he did want to stick around. He didn’t want to leave her. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He was hers and she was his and she prayed that soon enough, Ariel would be both of theirs.

Leanne had spent that summer doing her best to recover from the events of that early May morning.

She had taken the required time off of work, and then some.

At one point Jesse had even wondered if she was going to return.

But she never had any intention of staying gone for to long.

Instead she had taken a little trip by herself and cleared her head.

She had done her best to rid herself of all things related to Ethan that summer.

But all she had really accomplished was managing to put all his items in a black trash bag that she had shoved into the back of her closet.

She would open it and stare at it’s contents sometimes.

And if she was being honest with herself, she had kept his old Army t-shirt to sleep in only because it was super comfy.

Not because it smelled like him.

No. Not at all.

—

She had almost successfully gotten him off her mind when her entire world was turned upside down one August afternoon.

For rounding the corner in his typical military attire was the one and only Colonel Ethan Willis.

Her heart had started to race in her chest as their eyes locked across Center Stage.

He was hardened looking. The soft and gentle expression he had once worn was long gone.

Something had happened to him while he was gone. Something bad.

And she couldn’t help the tiny little part of her that felt bad for him.

Regardless of how he left her or why, she had loved him once, with her whole heart.

And that wasn’t just something you got over with a snap of your fingers.

—

She had narrowly avoided him the rest of her shift.

And she had almost forgotten about his return when Jesse had cornered her in her office and started asking questions.

“It’s him isn’t it?” He had asked. “The Colonel you were seeing? The father of the baby? That’s him right?”

She hadn’t known how to respond so she had simply shook her head.

“That bastard abandoned you when you needed him most.” He hadn’t been wrong about that.

But she didn’t know the circumstances for his leaving.

She didn’t know that he didn’t have a good reason.

So she wasn’t ready to write him off just yet.

—

He had found her later that night, just as she was about to leave.

He told her he was sorry. 

That he had never meant to leave her like that.

That she deserved better.

"Your damn right I did." She whispered.

"I left a note by your bed." He whispered back.

Except she never got a note from him.

In fact, she got nothing.

No notes. No calls. No texts. No carrier pigeons.

Nothing.

And with that she had walked away.

She barely made it to her car before she started crying. 

—

"I never got it." She had told him the following morning. "Your note. I never got it."

He had hung his head and closed his eyes.

"I tried to call but it said your number was no longer in service." She could hear the pain in his words.

She had disconnected her phone service as soon as she realized that he was gone.

She had gotten a new number and never looked back.

When she told him that he had started to cry.

He must have thought that she was trying to punish him.

And maybe part of her was.

—

"I thought you hated me." He had whispered to her over a patient the following day. "I thought you blamed me."

"Never." She had whispered back.

She had been so lost and broken by it all but she never once blamed him for their loss.

She did however blame him for leaving without a word.

“I’m sorry.” His eyes were full of all the love and regret in the world and she felt her heart pounding in her chest.

She could tell that he was sincere.

That he never meant to leave her.

That hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do.

“So am I.” She had walked away without another word then.

Because despite how badly she wanted to let him back in, she didn’t know if she was strong enough anymore.

—

A week later he showed up on her doorstep at four in the morning.

He had been crying.

And possibly even drinking.

But she had been helpless and unable to say ‘no’.

So she had let him in and she had let him kiss her.

And the next thing she knew he was backing her against the front door as his tongue traced her lips.

She had missed all the parts of him that she had gotten to know over those few short months together.

But she had missed this part the most.

—

At first it was just casual sex.

A hookup here and there.

Sometimes before work, sometimes after.

And if she was being honest, sometimes during.

He was insatiable and she was putty in his hands.

Jesse had warned her about getting back together with Ethan.

He had told her that she would get hurt.

That there was nothing stopping him from leaving her once again.

She had told Jesse to go to hell.

She may have loved the man, but dammit she was happy for once in her life and she wasn’t going to let him ruin this for her.

—

When his CO had showed up just before Christmas she had thought her heart was going to break in her chest though.

He had already been back to Afghanistan once.

Why the hell did he need to go again?

“I’m not leaving.” He had whispered to her that night when he had showed up at her front door once again.

“Okay.” She didn’t believe him. He had left her once, what was to stop him from leaving again?

“I love you.” She had felt like a ton of bricks had just been dropped on her chest.

Her whole body had started to tremble, her eyes filling with tears.

No one other than her late husband had ever told her that they loved her.

Not like this anyway.

“I love you and I can’t leave you.” His eyes were glistening in the early morning sun as he gently pushed his way inside. “I love you Leanne.”

She didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t know if she loved him back.

It had been so long since she had experienced such a feeling.

“Okay.” Was all she was able to say in return.

She had thought he would be mad, but he wasn’t.

Instead he had chuckled softly as he backed her against the front door.

“Okay.” His lips were against hers before she could form a coherent thought about the situation and the next thing she knew his hands were under her shirt and hers were in his hair.

They never even made it to the bed that night.

And for once, she didn’t care.

—

She had been a mess after that.

A complete and utter mess.

And she walked around like she was in a total daze.

She had told Jesse about Ethan’s confession and he had just stared at her wide-eyed and speechless.

She had told Rollie about Ethan’s confession too and he had told her that it was about time.

That she deserved to be happy and that he was glad that Ethan was the one to do it.

She had thanked him for his kind words.

They were much more appreciated than Jesse’s sarcasm.

—

It had been a quiet spring morning when Ariel had showed up at Angels for the second time.

And she felt her heart twisting in her chest at the thought of the poor girl being all on her own.

She wanted to save her.

She wanted to protect her.

She wanted to give her the home she so desperately deserved.

“I think I wanna adopt Ariel.” She had whispered one night while she and Ethan were sitting on the couch.

They had been watching a movie with the teen when she had fallen asleep, her head having fallen to Ethan’s shoulder with a contended sigh.

“Okay.” He had whispered back.

She expected hesitation.

She expected anger or resentment.

But instead, he seemed okay with the idea.

She had tried her best to hide her shock.

—

But they didn’t get a chance to celebrate because the next day the outbreak tore through Angels Memorial and destroyed their lives.

Ariel had been taken into the tent, her eyes red and raw from crying as they dragged her away from her and Ethan.

Away from the only family she had left.

Leanne had retreated to the roof to gather her thoughts then.

And it hadn’t taken Ethan long to show up by her side.

“She’ll be okay Lea.” He had told her. 

But she hadn’t been able to respond.

Because she knew that the likelihood of the teen surviving this was zero to none.

And she felt her heart break in her chest at the thought that she might lose yet another child.

—

She had been exposed the following afternoon and the look of fear and panic in Ethan’s eyes had done her in.

She had never seen him so scared.

Not even when she had told him about her failed pregnancy all those months ago.

But he had kept a straight face in front of the others.

And he had stayed strong until it was just the two of them, alone in the pitch black of the quarantine tent, the only sound that of the beeping monitors around them.

“I’m gonna get you out of this.” He looked so tired that it broke her heart.

“I don’t think you can Ethan.” Truth was, she didn’t think there was anything that Ethan couldn’t do.

Except maybe save her from this.

“I love you.” He had whispered as he tucked her into bed that night.

“I know.” She figured that was better than the ‘okay’ she had replied with a few months ago.

“Are you ever gonna love me back?” He asked softly.

“Maybe.” She had offered him a soft smile with her reply. “Let’s get through this and see how I feel then.”

He had rolled his eyes as he brushed her hair aside.

“Funny.” The fear was written very clearly on his face and it made her sigh.

She had broken him, just like he had broken her, and she hated how badly it made her feel.

—

When she had woken up the following week he had been at her side, his hand holding tightly to hers.

“Hi.” He whispered.

“Hi”. She whispered back.

He had smiled at her then, a soft, beautiful smile and she felt her heart swell.

“You made it through.” She still didn’t understand how she had survived.

It had all kind of been blur when it happened.

“Yes I did.” She had been unable to open her eyes fully but she could still see the glint in his eyes.

It was mixed with a certain look of hope and longing.

She knew what he was waiting for.

But she couldn’t say it.

Not yet.

No matter how true it may have been.

The words couldn’t leave her mouth.

Despite how badly she wanted them too.

—

She had gone home two days later.

And Ariel had come home to her three days after that.

Ethan had had it out with Campbell and had secured himself some major time off.

And he had spent the entire summer by their sides.

They had recovered slowly, and both in their own time, but they were both still alive and that was all that had mattered.

—

“I love you.” She had finally whispered to him one night while laying in bed.

They had spent the day at the beach with Ariel.

And despite the wind and the rain and the cooler than usual temperatures for an August afternoon they had had a blast.

They had eaten tacos from a food truck and sat huddled in the back of Ethan’s shiny new Jeep as they watched the rain fall into the ocean. The rhythmic sound of the waves soothing their tired souls.

They had talked about Ariel’s fear of the upcoming school year.

Of Leanne’s fear of the new residents that were coming in.

Of his fear of the future for them all.

Then they had driven home as they sang along to the radio.

That day she had been reminded of what it felt like to have a family again.

“I love you too.” He had whispered back as he buried his face against her neck.

“I’m gonna keep her you know?” They hadn’t discussed her plans for Ariel.

Not since their discussion in the quarantine tent.

She knew she wanted to adopt Ariel when she saw her laying helpless in that hospital bed.

“Good.” He had pressed a kiss against her skin as he ran his hand under the hem of her shirt. “I want you to keep her.”

“She needs me.” She wanted to say that she needed them both, but she didn’t know how invested in this he was. 

“And we need her.” Her heart had fluttered in her chest at his words.

So he did want to stick around.

He didn’t want to leave her.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

He was hers and she was his and she prayed that soon enough, Ariel would be both of theirs.


	3. Year Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leanne had never wanted to let people in after her accident. No, she had wanted to shut everyone out. And yet, all because of one man walking into her life on the worst night of his, she had finally found her home.

They had ended the month of August by pulling a six day shift at Angels.

She had been exhausted and so had he.

And Ariel had been every bit the cranky teenager.

But then September rolled around and she was getting suspended from school for fighting.

And Ethan was taking on a new position with a new partner.

And she was struggling to keep her head above water once again.

—

Things had been starting to look up when Ethan’s brother had been brought up and his mind had started to wander once more.

She was afraid that she was going to lose him.

That he was going to go down that rabbit hole and never come back to her.

“I don’t wanna lose you.” She had told him that night.

“You’re not going too.” He had replied.

And then he had kissed her softly before he climbed onto his bike and headed toward the hospital.

He was pulling yet another shift.

Yet another evening spent away from her and Ariel.

She was struggling not to take it personally at this point.

—

October started out with Jesse’s brother passing away unexpectedly.

And she had felt a heartache that she hadn’t experienced in quite some time.

She had sat with Jesse during the funeral, holding his hand and doing her best to keep her tears at bay.

She had caught sight of Ethan and Ariel entering the church right before the service began and she had been shocked.

She figured that they were both too busy to offer their support.

But then Ethan had been pulling her into his arms as Ariel had hugged Jesse as tight as she possibly could and she had felt that sense of family and belonging take over once again.

—

A few days later a case that rattled Ethan’s nerves had them both on edge.

A family that had survived a brutal car accident had been brought in.

And the controlling step-father was yelling and screaming and bossing his wife and step-kids around.

It had sent Ethan into a panic and he had shown up at her place in a foul mood.

And by the end of the evening they had screamed every profanity known to man at each other.

Ariel had stood helplessly between them, begging for them to stop fighting.

To stop yelling.

To just stop.

But they had been hellbent on destroying each other in that very moment.

And she wasn’t entirely sure why.

—

“Are you and Ethan broken up?” The teen had asked her that question probably a couple dozen times in the past six days and she had yet to answer her.

She didn’t know if they were broken up.

She didn’t know what they were.

But whatever it was, hurt.

She just wanted him to come back to them.

She missed him.

“I don’t know honey.” She finally answered her on day nine.

“He misses you.” She doubted that was true but she had appreciated the teen’s attempt at making her feel better.

“I doubt that.” And then she had walked away and returned to work and that had been that.

—

They hadn’t spoken to each other much after that fight.

They were civil enough at work that no one asked questions.

Which is what they were trying to avoid.

And she did her best not to keep Ariel from him.

Though sometimes she really, really wanted too.

But that changed after he attended a funeral for his brother’s friend.

He had taken Rox with him, along with his dad, and while it had struck a nerve that the younger woman was by his side once more, she had felt her heart ache for him.

She remembered how broken he had been after his brother had passed away.

How tired and sad and empty he had seemed.

She had gone to him that night.

Whether it was because she missed him or not she would never say.

“I’m sorry about Robbie’s friend.” She had told him through the screen door.

“Thanks.” His eyes were red and raw and hollow.

She wondered how long he had been crying.

She wondered if he had cried with Rox or if he had waited until he was home and alone.

“Do you want some company?” She didn’t know where that question had come from, but she had asked it before she could stop herself.

“Yeah.” And then he was opening the door for her and letting her inside and she felt a piece of heart fall back into place.

—

Everything changed the next night though.

Ariel had fallen in love and now that love was gone.

And she and Ethan were left to pick up the pieces of the traumatized girl’s heart once more.

They had driven her to Leanne’s in silence.

And after the teen had showered and changed she had crawled into bed between them like she was a lost child.

“I’m so, so sorry.” She had whispered against the girl’s hair.

Ethan had held them both tighter than she thought possible that night.

“I love you.” He had said into the darkness of the room. “Both of you. I love both of you so much.”

She didn’t know if had been the funeral he had just attended or the loss of the teen’s first love that had made his heart so soft that night.

But either way, she was thankful to finally have him back in their arms again.

—

The next few weeks had felt like a nightmare.

Like they were living in slow motion.

Like everything around her was from someone else’s life.

Ariel had run away in the middle of the night.

And Ethan had gone to San Diego to oversee Rox’s surgery.

And she had been left all alone in a house that had been so full of love and laughter a few days before.

She didn’t know what she had done to deserve this.

She didn’t know why she was being made to suffer through this all alone.

“I’ll be home in a few hours.” Ethan had told her softly as she explained to him that Ariel was really gone.

“Why would she do this?” She had been asking herself that question since she had discovered that the teen was missing earlier that morning. “Why would she leave us?”

“I don’t know babe.” And then he had quickly said his goodbyes before hanging up the phone.

She stood in her empty kitchen as the silence swallowed her once more.

—

Ariel had been returned to them two weeks later.

And she was broken and tired and almost beyond repair.

But then Ethan had opened his arms to her in the middle of the Angels Memorial lobby and she had stepped into his embrace without a second thought.

“Don’t you ever do that again.” He had pressed a lingering kiss to her hair with his words.

“I won’t.” She clung to him until they made her go.

Until the cops took her away in handcuffs like she was some kind of criminal.

Leanne knew right then and there that they had to fight harder for her than they had ever fought in their entire lives.

—

The day that she finally stood before a judge in an attempt to get custody of Ariel was the best day of her life.

But it was also the scariest.

She had spent the morning throwing up.

Her body had been a bundle of nerves.

“You’re not pregnant again are you?” Ethan had asked her the question quietly when she had crawled back into bed with him after yet another trip to the bathroom to empty her stomach contents into the toilet.

“No.” She hadn’t thought it was possible the first time around.

But now, now she doubted it would ever happen again.

“Okay.” He had whispered before drifting back off to sleep.

She had laid awake for the next hour running that thought over in her head.

She knew she wasn’t pregnant.

She had just been to the doctor a few days prior and there was no sign of anything unusual in any of her tests.

Surely a baby would have triggered a response of some kind in her report.

She was both thankful and regretful for that.

—

They had announced that Ariel was hers at exactly 2:35pm on a Thursday afternoon in the middle of May and she felt just as excited and happy and nervous as she had felt when the births of her other two children had been announced.

She was finally hers for good.

No more home visits.

No more stupid tests and questionnaires.

No more jumping through hoops.

No. Ariel was finally hers and she was slowly starting to fill the void in her heart that had been left all those years ago when she had lost her husband and children.

She was finally starting to get her family back.

—

Two weeks after Ariel was declared hers Ethan surprised them both with a trip to Hawaii for two weeks.

She had stared at him dumbfounded while Ariel had bounced up and down in excitement.

He had said that he thought it was only fitting that they celebrate such a big occasion.

And what better way to celebrate than a tropical vacation?

When she had told Jesse he had seemed less than phased.

But there was a glint in his eyes that told her that he must have known about Ethan’s plan all along.

She had tried to get him to give her details, but he had refused.

“Have a good trip Daddy.” He had whispered to her softly before she left her shift that night.

She knew he was up to something, but before she could question him on it he had already disappeared.

—

They had spent one blissful and beautiful week on the island before Ethan did something that had shocked her.

He had snuck her away for a walk on the beach, just the two of them, leaving Ariel to her own devices back in their suite.

And they had walked hand in hand along the ocean as they talked about their plans for the rest of the summer.

She had decided to take some time off work to spend with Ariel.

And he had already been assigned a six week stint at Fort Hood toward the end of the teen’s break from school.

He had begged for them to come visit him and they had agreed.

Much to Campbell’s dismay.

“I’ve been thinking about things a little further ahead than this summer.” He had told her softly as he started to slow down.

“Oh yeah?” She had offered him a raised eyebrow but he just smiled at her in return. “Like, for Christmas?”

“A little further out than Christmas.” He had whispered as he turned to face her.

“New Years?” She had felt so confused by the conversation.

They had never discussed their future together.

It had always just kind of been implied that they were together and that they were in it for the long haul.

She hadn’t had a problem with that until now.

“Further than that.” He shoved his right hand into the pocket of his jeans and she felt the world come to a crashing halt as he slowly lowered himself to one knee.

“Get up.” She whispered. “Get up right now.”

He had shaken his head at her softly, offering her the best smile he could manage as he took her left hand in his.

“Leanne…” He dragged her name out slightly as she closed her eyes.

She had never imagined that this day would come.

Not in a million years.

She had already been down this road once.

She couldn’t believe that she would get to go down it once again.

“Ethan…” She opened her eyes only to see him reveal a black velvet box.

When he opened it her heart soared at the sight of the simple rose gold ring.

“I love you.” She was too blown away to respond. “You make me happier than I ever thought possible. You and Ariel, you’re my entire world. I love you and I wanna marry you and spend the rest of my life with you.”

She had shaken her head at his words.

There was noway that he was asking her to marry him.

Not now. Not ever.

“Marry me?” He whispered his question.

“Yes.” She had wanted to hesitate at his question.

She had always told herself that she would.

“For real?” He sounded so relieved and it made her beyond happy.

“For real.” She said softly.

He had slid the ring on her finger without a second thought.

And then he was kissing her as he pulled her in close, his hands tangling in her hair as he held her tightly.

The setting sun behind them creating the perfect backdrop for such a perfect event. 

—

When they had told Ariel about their engagement that night she had cried.

Leanne was worried they would upset the teen.

That somehow, someway, they had misread her desire for them to be together as a family.

But instead she had wrapped her arms around them both and held onto them like her life depended on it.

“I love you mom.” Leanne had felt her heart explode at the girl’s words. “And I love you dad.”

She had never been happier in that very moment.

And she had would never have guessed that she would be standing there like that, with her arms around the two most important people in her life.

She was finally a mother again.

And he was finally a father.

And together, they would always be a family.

—

That night she laid in bed staring at the ceiling as she let the events of the last three years sink in.

She had been so lost after losing her family.

So hopeless and alone.

And she had never imagined that this day would come.

That she would be laying in bed next to the love of her life, her brand new fiancé, as their daughter slept a few feet away.

She never dreamed of having a life like this.

Not in a million years.

Because Leanne had never wanted to let people in after her accident.

No, she had wanted to shut everyone out.

And yet, all because of one man walking into her life on the worst night of his, she had finally found her home.

**Author's Note:**

> ***Comments make me happy!**


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